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National Ozone Unit, St. George’s, Grenada: Four (4) local refrigeration and air conditioning technicians recently completed a train-the-trainers course in flammable refrigerant technology have been presented with their certificates upon successful completion. They are the first in Grenada to be certified in accordance to Regulation 300/2008 of the European Commission, as as operator of stationery refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump equipment containing certain flourinated green house gases. They have also been certified in Flammable Refrigerant technology by Real Alternatives Europe. The training was conducted by Centro Studi Galileo of Italy and the participants were require to pass written and practical assessments.

October 6th, 2017, St. George’s Grenada: Local Refrigeration and Air-conditioning (RAC) technicians continue to benefit from the partnership between the National Ozone Unit and GIZ Proklima in the area of capacity development under the Cool Contributions Fighting Climate Change (C4) Project.

Two more RAC technicians will leave the island on Saturday October 7, 2017, for Germany to participate in the “Cool Training” for a two weeks period from October 9th – 20th, 2017.

The “Cool Training” is part of the Green Cooling Initiative of GIZ Proklima that focuses on Natural Refrigerant Technologies. The aim is to provide comprehensive knowledge and capacity for the operations of cooling technologies using natural refrigerant, such as propane (R-290), carbon dioxide, (R-744) and Ammonia (R-717)

This training is comprised of 70% practical and 30% theory. It also involves field trips to innovative enterprises in Germany, such as, refrigerant companies, RAC component manufacturers and their refrigerant plants that use natural substances.

The two local technicians selected to participate in this training are Mr. Curtis James and Mr. Oral Ferguson. Mr. James is currently the RAC lecturer at NEWLO, while Mr. Ferguson is attached the St. George’s University – (SGU) (Maintenance Department and is also an adjunct lecturer at the T A Marryshow Community College. Both technicians have well over fifteen (15) years experience in the RAC industry. All beneficiaries of the training are required to pass on the knowledge gained to other technicians in the industry on their return.

Grenada hosted a similar regional training and certification in hydrocarbon (HC) technology for the RAC technicians in August 2017 during which participants from several Caribbean countries attended. Grenada continues to be a leader in the application of HC technology in the region. HC technology has been in Grenada for several years now, more predominantly in the domestic refrigeration sector. During the 2017 World Ozone Day Celebrations, the NOU staged a demonstration exercise to compare the energy performance of this technology as compared to other traditional models currently in the market. The result not only proved that HC’s are ozone and climate friendly, but also more energy efficient.

Funding for the participation of the technicians is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and is implemented by GIZ Proklima, under the Cool Contributions fighting Climate Change (C4) Project. This project is executed by the National Ozone Unit in the Energy Division of the Ministry of Finance and Energy.